Matt Bloomfield agrees with Middlesbrough boss Carrick as he makes ‘targeted’ injuries admission..
Middlesbrough were once again without any fit centre-backs at Luton Town..
Matt Bloomfield admitted his Luton Town side looked the exploit Middlesbrough’s defensive frailties at Kenilworth Road – with the Hatters boss echoing Michael Carrick’s thoughts in an interesting discussion about injuries in the game.
Boro earned a goalless draw at Kenilworth Road after a hard-fought, backs-up-against-the wall performance. Much like at Swansea City seven days earlier, Boro struggled to lay a glove on the hosts, as they highlighted Boro’s defensive frailties thanks to injuries.
Nevertheless, Boro just about managed to shut the Hatters out. In the first half Boro had poor finishing and goalkeeper Mark Travers to thank for that. Asked if he’d been aware the game of Boro’s defensive injury problems, Bloomfield admitted he’d set his side out to try and take advantage.
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The Hatters boss said: “I think if you look at some of the big players that they had missing at the back, it was an opportunity for us to try and assert our physicality at the top of the pitch, and with the profile of forwards that we had. So, yeah, it was something we understood. We’ve been missing some big players, still are right now, throughout the season.
“It seems to be very prevalent in football at the moment, the amount of players that are getting injured. And Boro are obviously missing some real big players defensively. We felt there was an opportunity for us today at home to create some chances and we did.”
His thoughts on injuries rising in the game match those of Carrick. With Boro’s injuries way above average over the last few seasons, he’s regularly been asked about how he might prevent them – with the Boro boss often highlighting the rise of injuries across the game.
Asked about the rise in injuries in that game, he said: “I’m not a medical expert, so I don’t want to try and sit here and pretend to be. Obviously, there’s been a lot of hamstring injuries. There’s a lot of injuries across the board at the moment and I think it’s something that needs to be considered.
“The pace of the game, the intensity of the games at the moment, the number of games the lads are playing with the travelling and all the rest of it. Again, I’m not a medical expert and I’m not here to start trying to discuss that, but I think it’s obvious to see that there’s a lot of injuries right now and it’s something that maybe we should consider.”
